Swords & Roses
by funkymoleperson
Summary: A collection of LloydPresea challenge oneshots for the lj community 30hugs.
1. simplicity

**Title**: Simplicity  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #1 - hazel eyes  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: Squinting at the small picture painted with delicate care, Lloyd saw a young woman who he first took to be Presea, but looking at her eyes, he realized that this...was her mother. Post-Game Spoilers.

_Simplicity_

"Umm...Lloyd?" Presea stood in the doorway looking uncertain. When the two had first arrived at Dirk's house after a long period of traveling around the region destroying expheres, Lloyd had ran ahead, hollering something about wanting to clean his room up before she saw it. Lloyd had such _simplicity_ to him... Presea had tried to walk as slowly as possible to give him time, but now she was finally at the threshold of the Irving family house, and had no idea where to prop her ax.

A crash was heard and Lloyd appeared, tripping in his hurry to get down the staircase. "Yes, Presea?" he asked, grinning and pushing back his hair from his vision. A moment later a short bearded man (no, he must be a dwarf), followed Lloyd, calling to the boy to take off his shoes while he was in the house. Lloyd seemed not to have heard him.

Presea was momentarily taken aback. Should she take off her boots as well? But if she did, she would need both her hands, which would mean setting down her ax. Was this permissible?

"I...did not know where to set down my ax," she explained, still wavering in the doorway. Lloyd looked around, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, anywhere is fine. You'll be living with us for a while, so this'll be your house too!" He was always grinning, wasn't he? Presea gave him a cautious smile. Lloyd beamed.

"Oh, honestly," Dirk grumbled. "I'll take your ax, Presea. We can store it upstairs with Lloyd's swords. Meanwhile, have a seat over there. I assume you'll want to rest your feet after all that walking."

Presea reluctantly handed her ax over to Lloyd's adoptive father. While Dirk climbed the stairs to the second floor, the pink haired ax-girl wandered over to a chair and sat down, pulling one of her boots off.

"It was a lot of walking, wasn't it?" Lloyd asked, slouching into the seat next to Presea. "But all the rheairds were being used, and even Noishe has his limits." Presea nodded absently, concentrated on pulling off her second boot.

"Should I remove my gloves as well?" she asked. Lloyd shrugged. Presea decided that as she had already taken off her boots, she might as well take off her gloves. Just for now. She could rest here without fear. Not like before.

Afternoon drifted on to evening, and soon the three odd members of the patchwork household had finished their final meal for the day. The time had finally arrived to discuss where Presea would sleep.

"She's sleeping upstairs with us, of course," Lloyd declared, as if it was already settled. Dirk sighed.

"We've never had anyone else living with us before. Whenever Lloyd had Genis and Colette over for the night, the three would sleep outside under the stars, or else all pile into Lloyd's bed, but somehow I don't think that will work for a long-term guest. We could probably set out a cot downstairs for tonight and figure out better accommodations tomorrow..." he trailed off. Lloyd looked confused.

"But why can't she sleep upstairs for tonight?" he asked, a note of approach starting in his tone.

"Presea may want her privacy, Lloyd." Dirk explained. "Presea...would you prefer to sleep downstairs or upstairs?" Presea caught the look of pleading Lloyd was sending at her behind Dirk's back.

"Sleeping upstairs for one night would not present a problem," she said at last. Lloyd jumped for joy. Dirk rolled his eyes.

"It'll be pretty noisy tonight..." he muttered, remembering the numerous occasions when Genis and Colette had stayed over. As it turned out, however, Lloyd wasn't too chatty and Presea was well-mannered enough not to press conversation and keep Dirk awake. An hour or so later, when she was sure both of the Irvings had fallen asleep, Presea slipped out of bed and tiptoed downstairs, softly pushing the door open and walking outside.

It was peaceful by the river, though her sight wasn't optimal in the moonlight, and Presea quickly found a spot to sit. Slowly, she opened the small sachet on her belt and removed a small piece of wood with a painting on one side. The young ax-girl settled down, looking at the painting in silence.

"Huh? Where's Presea gone?" Lloyd mumbled sitting up and rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He had woken up hungry, and was just thinking of going downstairs for a midnight snack when he noticed that Presea's cot was empty. Slightly worried, Lloyd wrapped a blanket around himself and went downstairs to investigate. Looking out the window as he reached the first floor, the young swordsman could just see a short figure by the water. He walked over to the door and gently pulled it open, walking across the dirt to where the figure sat. It was Presea, without a doubt.

Lloyd crouched beside her. "Hey...whatcha doing out here at a time like this?" he asked, concerned. "Are you feeling okay?"

Presea did not reply, only held up her wood for him to see. Squinting at the small picture painted with delicate care, Lloyd saw a young woman who he first took to be Presea, but looking at her eyes, he realized that this...was her mother.

"Hazel eyes," Presea said very quietly. "Daddy always said I could have been Mommy's double except that I had his eyes. Mommy had the hazel ones. She's dead now..."

"My Mom is dead too," said Lloyd softly as he handed the picture back. Presea looked surprised. How could she have forgotten that? "But I know that she's always with me. With or without my exphere."

"Always...with you?" Presea looked down at the picture she held in her hands, feeling very lonely. "Do you think my Mommy is always with me, too?"

Lloyd looked surprised, then gave her a gentle smile. "Always," he promised. "They're probably sitting together up in the sky looking down at us and thinking how silly we are for being lonely."

"You are lonely as well?" Presea asked, looking up.

"Sometimes..." Lloyd replied slowly. "Ever since Da...Kratos. My other dad. Ever since he went to Derris Kharlan I've kinda been missing him. But I still have Dirk and all of my wonderful friends. And you, Presea. So, I guess it's not so bad."

"Sometimes I feel as though I am alone," Presea whispered. Lloyd's eyes widened.

"But...you have lots of friends too, Presea! You've got Colette and Genis and Raine and Regal and Sheena and Zelos, even if he is an idiot sometimes. And you've got me," Lloyd rushed to protest. Presea looked so lost sitting there that the brunette swordsman impulsively wrapped his arms around her. Presea let out a tiny, shuddering sob.

"It's okay, I'm right here," Lloyd said in a soothing voice, rocking her back and forth. The two stayed like that, with Lloyd's arms around Presea for a long time.

"Rise and shine, Presea!" Lloyd called out with his usual enthusiasm. Presea blinked, looking around, trying to remember how she had gotten back to her cot.

"You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you, so I carried you inside," Lloyd explained in a conspiratorial whisper so Dirk wouldn't hear. The dwarf in question was downstairs cooking breakfast.

"Thank you, Lloyd," Presea said earnestly, and Lloyd smiled.

"C'mon, let's go get something to eat!" Lloyd exclaimed, and Presea smiled, following him down the stairs to where she could smell fresh bacon.

Yes, Lloyd was simple. But Presea was beginning to think he was all she needed.

_Fin._


	2. one word

**Title**: One Word  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #10 - just a memory  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: A twenty-two-year-old Presea broods in Meltokio about things she has lost...and found.

_one word_

She remembers many things, despite all that she has forgotten. Lying in the back of her mind are files of unsorted thoughts that have been locked away; so far away. She doesn't want to look at them. She doesn't want this dual existence, this woman/child that is neither one nor the other, but both and neither.

There was only one time in her life when it hadn't mattered. The essence of that time could only have been summed up as Him. Her Everything.

_"Hey Presea?" Lloyd asked, sprawled out on the grass next to her._

"Yes, Lloyd?" Presea blinked sleepily up at the bright summer sun. One of her pigtails was coming loose, but she found she couldn't be bothered to fix it.

"I...want to play a game..." Lloyd began uncertainly. "It's a word game. You say the first word that comes into your head about the other person, and then they say the first word that comes into their head about you."

Presea did not even have to think. "Hope."

Lloyd was quiet for a long time until Presea turned her head back towards him in askance.

"I think so too," the young swordsman said at last.

"That wasn't one word, Lloyd," Presea commented, arching an eyebrow. Lloyd smiled and before Presea knew what had happened, his arms were around her and her face was pressed against his chest. It felt so warm and comforting...

"Love," he said.

If there ever was a word to describe that feeling, it was that when she was with _him_, time no longer mattered.

But he was gone from this place.

And she was left with nothing more than a memory and a word.

_time_


	3. undone

**Title**: Undone  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #22 - ichi-go ichi-e  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: He'd promised to experience life with her, and now they would experience something new together for the first - and last - time. One-shot.

_Undone_

Their first kiss was accidental. It couldn't have been otherwise; a trip, a stumble, and then somehow their lips had sort of crashed together and they had waited a moment longer before pulling away and beginning the awkwardness.

Falling in love with Lloyd had been different then anything Presea had ever experienced. It was a strange feeling - like innocence, like laughter, like completion. Oh, she never said anything, preferring to smile behind her hand as she watched Lloyd stumble around, content to wait for him to work out his feelings in time.

Presea had _thought_, or perhaps assumed, that Lloyd would always be the boy who played in the sand and dreamed of simpler things. In a way she had imagined herself as always being older than him, but she had never thought that he would ever quite be where she was. Oh, she cared for him. But she did not think that they could be a unit, or a pair, or however it would be called.

But it had changed one night. The night before his departure.

"Presea, I want to tell you something," Lloyd had said softly, drawing her aside from the dance floor. It was the anniversary ball of the marriage between Sheena and Zelos, and the atmosphere had been full of light and laughter. Presea remembered smiling.

"I'm telling you this, because I may not be around in the future. I...I have to leave, and I don't know if I'll be coming back," he whispered, taking her by the wrist and tugging her gently out into the middle of the floor. Turning his head aside, Lloyd called over to Zelos.

"Can I have a moment of everyone's time please? Zelos, could you have them put a short wait on the next song?"

The room began to quiet, and Presea could only look at Lloyd with confusion and alarm, feeling as though she was about to lose something that she had just found. Lloyd was looking at her, but now Presea felt something different than before. A tingle that traveled up her spine from the place where he was touching her wrist.

"Wooohooo, look at Lloyd and Pres-e-a!" Zelos catcalled, grinning good-naturedly. Sheena just smiled at the two. In the back were all the rest, smiling and waiting for Lloyd to say something. But Presea did not hear Zelos nor see Sheena or the others. Only Lloyd.

"Presea..." Lloyd was holding her hand in his own, and Presea noticed a warmth that hadn't been there before. Then she noticed that he had discarded his gloves like she had her own. It was the most perfect touch she had thought to feel. "I am in love with you and I will always be in love with you. No matter what. Do you...love me back?"

Presea did not want to reply because she knew he was saying his goodbye. Instead she circled her arms around him and clung to him with all her strength. And as he bent to kiss her, a tear rolled down her cheek.

He was in love with her and it felt like the best, most heartbreaking thing Presea had ever known.

_come home, don't go, you are everything, and I am nothing without you_

_Fin._


	4. china doll

**Title**: China Doll  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #18 - the wrong words  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: They tried dancing once. It was at a Christmas party and everyone was too drunk to notice, anyway. Maybe that was when the rift formed. Or maybe it was there all along. One-shot.

_China Doll_

She's been working on this one for some time now.

It's another wooden carving, part of a fast-growing collection of pieces of her life, stored and forgotten in the unused cupboards of her cottage. She wants to finish this one quickly and store it in the vain hopes of forgetting, but this sugar-spun girl knows she'll never _ever_ forget.

Laughter keeps echoing in her mind; loud and obnoxious, ceaselessly pounding against her skull. Whose laughter, she cannot tell. Everyone was laughing that night.

Sheena had been drunk, Presea remembered. In one version of Presea's memories, the ninja with a bow in her hair is laughing hysterically at a joke Zelos has told, cuddling up to him with a glass of champagne in one hand. It was Christmas then, maybe the older woman had been wearing a scarf. In another version, Sheena is laughing hysterically, hiding tears behind her eyes. Maybe both versions are the same.

There had been _so much_ drinking, Presea remembered. At the time, it seemed everyone was happy; the air was charged with warmth and merriment. But looking back, Presea wonders if everyone weren't putting it on for show; especially Lloyd, who for all his joviality had been drinking more than he should have.

She doesn't remember who made the suggestion; had it been him? had it been her? had they both sort have...come together? It didn't matter. In the back of the room, half-hidden by the Christmas tree and Raine entangled in Yuan's arms, the ax-girl and the would-be hero attempted to dance. Neither had had lessons and Presea hasn't bothered since. It had been awkward, but they managed; looking more at their feet then each other. Or rather, with Lloyd looking at his feet while Presea tried to catch his gaze. There were so many things she wanted to say then, in his arms. A million lifetimes of having Regals or Genises could not compare to _this_.

"Lloyd..." Presea murmured, using a finger to redirect her partner's head so that he was forced to look at her. "I have something I need to say."

"Presea, don't..." Lloyd whispered, pulling away and looking ashamed. He had known what would come all along. In his selfishness, the young swordsman had wanted to touch her once more. Just once, he kept telling himself, but this was denial. This should not happen - it _could_ not, he told himself.

"I cannot pretend for the rest of my life, Lloyd," Presea replied softly, gently gripping his arm as he tried to move away further. "I love you. I have _always_ loved you and always will, and I want you to stop denying it."

Lloyd shook his head. "Don't say these things, Presea. I'm in love with Colette, and she is in love with me. Your words only burden me."

Presea reached out, grasping Lloyd's hands, looking pleadingly at him, unable to conjure the right words to prevent him from fleeing her. The branches of the pine tree shifted, and a sharp voice snapped through the silence.

"If you're through, I'd like a dance with my girlfriend," Genis broke in, laying a hand on Presea's shoulder. At seventeen, he was tall and lean, with rather handsome features. Features that a woman could appreciate, Presea knew, but she had already given her heart away. Genis flashed a smile at her. "The holly you put in your pigtails this evening is stunning, Presea."

Presea opened her mouth to speak, only to feel Lloyd look upwards; a darting glance that causing their eyes to lock for one second before Lloyd gently broke away. "By all means, my friend. She's yours."

A wooden likeness of her love had once stood on the mantelpiece. Six inches high; every inch him, from the position of his arms crossed over his chest, to his wild, messy hair. It was gone now; broken from being thrown across the room in a fit of anger so long ago.

She cannot let go, no matter how much she tries. Carving the small doll-like version of herself into the wood, the young woman is only left with a grim feeling of satisfaction. This is what she has become - like a little china doll girl up on a hard-to-reach shelf. There had only been one person to make her feel otherwise, and his part in her life was long over.

How do we say these words? The right words, at the right time. Is it chance, or does it not work out because it is not meant to work out? She does not know. _If only things had been different_ is useless to wish, but she wishes it anyway.

Raindrops roll down his forehead, dripping off the ends of his hair. He's twenty-five and sopping wet on her doorstep as she stands in the doorway staring stupidly at his appearance. His mud-splattered, clothing-starting-to-look-a-little-worn, soaked, _beautiful_ self.

"We broke up," he says, looking at the trees behind her. "It wasn't working too well."

He paces in a kind of confused half-step here, half-step there, whirling back to face her. "I'm sorry that I held on for so long. I knew what you felt, or I should have, but I kept on pretending otherwise. I couldn't lose your friendship. I...I wanted to keep it like it was forever. I couldn't stand it otherwise. I couldn't stand you not being with me. But I messed up."

"Don't say more," she responds in a calm manner, emotion already shutting down in her eyes as he watches. "I was too forward with my feelings. That is all that needs to be said."

"No, it's not!" he cries out, leaping forward to clasp her hands. "I messed up because in the process I ignored your feelings, when in reality _your_ feelings were what meant most to me. I treated you like a doll, not a person, trying to distance myself from you while keeping you close. Because...the person...not the doll...was the one I was in love with all along."

She sobs; she can't help it, he's been playing this game for so long. His arms around her now are getting her wet too, and she wriggles uncertainly, but he only smiles sadly and kisses the top of her head. Things will never be quite right here. So much mending, so much healing would come first. And their story, which never had an ending or beginning in it's jumble of two people always missing each other, was not meant to be about a doll, but two people.

Two people in love.

_Fin._


	5. teddy bear

**Title**: Teddy Bear  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #4 - teddy bear  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: AU "My mommy died today," the little girl informed him, looking up with a deadpan expression. "I didn't even get to say goodbye." One-shot.

_Teddy Bear_

"Here's your ticket. The tram should be around in about three minutes," the clerk announced with practiced efficiency. The patron nodded and slowly took the paper from her, moving to find a bench to sit and wait on, his tall form bobbing up and down through the crowd.

Sliding onto an unoccupied bench, the lanky young man set down his large backpack and closed his eyes, sighing deeply. His father would be upset with him again; at this rate the brunette was going to fail out of high school. His teacher had been making dire threats lately with the words "summer school" and "tutoring" in them. It was no use to argue that he had better things to do; that he'd rather be in art class when he was supposed to be learning about politics or some hooey that his teachers though he _ought_ to know.

Apparently telling them that he wanted to be an antiques dealer or a painter didn't get him out of learning about frogs, commas, and logarithms. Dirk had tried to impress upon him the importance of his education, but Lloyd Irving was a young, headstrong man, and couldn't grasp the concept. Even with the mural incident on the school roof, people kept telling him to take his schooling more seriously. It was like asking him to eat tomatoes. He couldn't do it.

The blaring noise of the tram screeching into the station informed the young man that it was time to stand up. Grabbing his backpack, he joined the crowd of people boarding. Unable to find a seat, Lloyd opted to stand, tiredly grasping hold of a bar overhead. Presently, his gaze traveled to a small family gathered in the seats nearest to where he was standing. A worn-through looking father was trying to comfort a softy weeping little girl with curly pink hair. Next to them was an older girl, probably in junior high, sitting with her arms clenched tightly around a raggedy-looking brown teddy bear, looking expressionless.

Suddenly, the younger girl let out a loud wail that caused several other passengers to look over with distaste. Lloyd frowned at them.

The father seemed to be having an unsuccessful time quieting his daughter down. His older daughter didn't so much as blink. Lloyd felt a flash of concern come over him.

"A-Are you okay?" he asked the older girl softly. She raised her violet-blue eyes to meet his.

"My mommy died today," the little girl informed him, looking up with a deadpan expression. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. She-" the girl indicated her sister. "-watched it happen. Mommy was very sick. I was at school, but Alicia was at home. The doctor and Father both tried to get Alicia to play outside, but she wouldn't leave."

Lloyd carefully lowered himself to his knees so he was eyelevel with the girl where she sat. His body was stiff with shock, and tears sprang up to his eyes.

"I asked her not to go, but she left anyway," the girl whispered. "I thought if she really loved me she'd stay, but she didn't."

Lloyd let out a deep sigh, a painful feeling creeping up in his chest, trying to keep the image of the gravestone that read _Anna Irving_ out of his mind. There was nothing, _nothing_ he knew to say. Time stopped.

He could see her every detail. From her purple schoolgirl outfit to her long pink hair, brushed back into pigtails. Were boots allowed at her school? The idlest of thoughts, unable to process the horror Lloyd felt. What had Colette done when her mother had died? She had cried, the loud sobbing of an eight year old in agony, body convulsing and tears streaming. This girl was devoid of all this. It struck him as _wrong_, so _wrong_.

What did people say at a time like this? "Don't cry"? But she wasn't crying.

"Hey," Lloyd whispered, reaching out to touch her cheek, even as she flinched away. "Hey..."

A tear rolled down his cheek, and then another. Lloyd hadn't _meant_ to start crying when he wanted to comfort this forlorn, heartbreakingly sad girl, but he couldn't seem to stop the tears.

And then she was there, on the floor of the transit train next to him, slipping her arms around his waist and holding on as tightly as she could muster. Lloyd clung to this stranger, this girl, as much as he had anyone. In his life, the young brunette had known pain. But he had never seen it mirrored in someone else's eyes like he did now.

Time passed. Eventually, the tram ground to a halt and people began filing out. The two figures were still in the same position they had been before, only now being forced to move. Waiting outside the train, the young woman's father stood holding her younger sister and waiting for her to follow them out.

Lifting her head, the girl - Presea - raised her eyes to meet his. She was still in very close proximity and something about the expression on her face made Lloyd wonder if she wasn't older than he'd originally taken her to be. Drawing back, the brunette barely had time to wonder at the slight warmth in his cheeks before the younger girl moved her face slightly, her lips bumping against his jawbone - accidentally? - and moving away.

"You're going..." she whispered softly, her pink bangs falling to hide her eyes. "...but I think you'll come back to me someday...I hope it's okay..."

He had wanted to say something, but Lloyd found himself bereft of words, and before he knew it the girl was gone.

But, as Lloyd thought to himself later, not forever. He would return to her. Someday. And if the teddy bear that she had pressed into his arms at the last moment meant anything, she would be waiting.

_Fin._


	6. see the dawn

**Title**: See the Dawn  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #21 - sois un ange; be an angel  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: Post-game. Lloyd, Presea, and a chance for a new life. One-shot.

_See the Dawn_

The fabric is rough against his skin, Lloyd notices, as he presses it against his cheek, trembling slightly. The sun is just beginning to peak above the horizon, rays of light cutting through the dense mist.

It's quiet. A deep, almost fragile quiet that the young swordsman is afraid to break, adamant against waking the peaceful form in his arms. She's had enough worry on those narrow shoulders of hers, and for now it is his greatest desire to let her sleep; burdens cast aside.

Dawn has come, and with it a new world that's waiting for them - the _both_ of them. He desperately wants the pink-haired axe-girl that slumbers on his knees to see this light; the light that he sees. He has faith that one day, when he's cast off his exphere and she her past that they can share the dawn together; a single moment for them alone.

He has faith that this little, lost girl-woman has the capacity for strength greater than she thinks. He believes that she will learn to love again; to trust again. He is willing to wait for their dawn.

And until then...well, he'll let his precious angel sleep, seeing the wings that no one else can see shining faintly in the new day's light.

_alis volat propris_

_Fin._


	7. the making of a tree

**Title**: The Making of a Tree  
**Fandom**: Tales of Symphonia  
**Theme**: #17 - orange; color  
**Pairing**: Presea/Lloyd  
**Rating**: PG  
**Disclaimer**: I do not own Tales of Symphonia.  
**Summary**: SPOILERIFIC. XD

_The Making of a Tree_

CLUNK.

A cloud of sawdust burst into the air, making Presea sneeze as she bent down to pick up the fallen board. By her side, resting against one of the beams was a hefty looking axe that the young woman had been using to help with the carpentry. It had been very effective so far.

"Okay down there?" The speaker's head popped into sight from the roof above, brown bangs sticking out at odd angles. Presea lifted one hand to shield her eyes from the sun as she looked upwards.

"I dropped a board," she replied, lifting it above her head for the figure to see. "I haven't knocked down the house yet, Lloyd. Your worrying is unnecessary."

The boy laughed, then heaved himself over the ledge and dropped down beside her. "I'm not worried about the _house_," he replied, smiling. "You sure you aren't ready to break for lunch? You've been working since the early hours of the morning."

The edges of Presea's mouth quirked upwards in a half-smile. "I didn't notice the time pass."

"Well, that's a first," Lloyd laughed. "You certainly are adapting well to Iselia, Presea. The townspeople love you for what you've done, you know."

"I am glad I could help to rebuild," the pink-haired axe-wielder murmured, setting aside her tools and taking a sip of water from her canteen. "It feels good to use these hands for my own choosing."

The brunette swordsman nodded. "Yes, yes it is."

-

"I want a world where we can shape our own fates," the young woman mused, whirling around as she skipped ahead of the group; two swordsmen, one with spiky red hair, the other with long blue hair, and a young blonde boy playing with a kendama. "Where everyone can take part in the building and it won't matter that all the hands are different because everyone will be on the same level."

"Do you think we can really do it, sister?" the blonde boy sped up to join her, slipping one hand into hers.

"I really think we can!" she replied, laughing merrily. "They've signed a treaty to end the war, and I just _know_ that the tree will regrow when the people of both countries come back together on the same side! We're going to help rebuild it together. _All_ of us."

She smiled back at the man with the blue hair, tossing her, deep green hair, and he responded with a smile of his own, the light glinting off of the ruby ring he wore on his left hand.

-

"U-Um, I don't know what to say," the bumbling blonde stuttered, looking at the vast crowd assembled before her. "This tree represents a new world. A world that has people from Sylvarant and people from Tethe'alla. People from big cities and people from small towns. People who are elves, humans, and those who are caught in between. The guardian of this tree we stand before today spoke to me of a world of acceptance. I believe that we can all work to build this new world, as this new tree begins to grow. I present to you, the Yggdrasil tree! It will take work, but I believe that we can all work to nurture this tree and this world into something new and beautiful. So everyone, please do your best!"

She clasped her hands together earnestly, and the roar of approval swept over the former Chosen like a tide.

_I'll do my best, Martel. You can rest in peace now._

-

"Lloyd, what do you think makes a tree?" Presea asked, sitting down in the grass next to the brunette swordsman. Evening was creeping upon them, and the sun was setting, the sky awash with brilliant shades of red, orange, and gold.

"Where did that question come from?" Lloyd asked bemusedly. "Well, wood I suppose. And leaves. Twigs?"

Presea's shoulders shook, causing her friend to look up with alarm, only to see her laughing.

"I was thinking about the great tree," the young woman explained, tugging at some stray pink hair. "I think that we all make up the tree. Our hopes and dreams and fears _and worries_," she paused to smile. "are all part of what makes the tree. You make up the tree. I made up the tree. What we work for makes up the tree. I think that the Yggdrasil tree was born out of her heart - that woman who they call Martel, and all those who want to build a new world. The things that I have lost and found, I think, matter. I am part of the making of a tree. I have worth by being alive. That is what I have begun to think."

Lloyd smiled and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Well, it's about time."

_Fin._


End file.
